Nearly fifty years ago, researchers discovered that when cells in laboratory cultures are infected by a virus, they secrete a substance that protects other cells from infection. In 1957 Alick Issaks and Jean-Jacques Lindenmann traced this effect to a protein called interferon, a molecule now known to play a key role in the immune system. Human and animal cells produce it in a rapid “first wave” response to infections. Since its discovery, scientists have sought to use this natural substance to cure a

A comprehensive examination of how the unique head and snout affects maneuverability and the role of its electrosensory function for seeking food along the ocean floor

Why the peculiar head shape of the hammerhead shark developed as it did has been the subject of much speculation. The dorso-ventrally compressed and laterally expanded pre-branchial head is an unmistakable diagnostic feature of the sphyrnid sharks. This unique head shape has been termed the cephalofoil in recognition of

In reality, Ulm was the site of a full-scale trial of the new DELTASS (Disaster Emergency Logistics Telemedicine Advanced Satellites System) system, developed by a team lead by CNES for the European Space Agency (ESA).

DELTASS uses both geo

A team of researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have linked an area of chromosome 10p to families with a history of bulimia nervosa, providing strong evidence that genes play a determining role in who is susceptible to developing the eating disorder.

The finding, gleaned from blood studies of 316 patients with bulimia and their family members, is the result of the first multinational collaborative genome-wide linkage scan to lo

Subaru and VLT Join Forces in New Study of Virgo Galaxy Cluster

At a distance of some 50 million light-years, the Virgo Cluster is the nearest galaxy cluster. It is located in the zodiacal constellation of the same name (The Virgin) and is a large and dense assembly of hundreds of galaxies.

The “intracluster” space between the Virgo galaxies is permeated by hot X-ray emitting gas and, as has become clear recently, by a sparse “intracluster population of stars”.

So fa

Early demo project identifies new brown dwarf

A new approach to finding undiscovered objects buried in immense astronomical databases has produced an early and unexpected payoff: a new instance of a hard-to-find type of star known as a brown dwarf.

Scientists working to create the National Virtual Observatory (NVO), an online portal for astronomical research unifying dozens of large astronomical databases, confirmed discovery of the new brown dwarf recently. The star emerge

Early on the morning of 30 June 1908, the vast forest of western Siberia was illuminated by a strange apparition: an alien object streaking across the cloudless sky. White hot from its headlong plunge into the Earth’s atmosphere, the intruder exploded about 8 km above the ground, flattening trees over an area of 2000 square kilometres.

Despite the huge detonation, equivalent to a 10 megaton nuclear warhead (about 500 times the energy of the Hiroshima atomic bomb), there were few if any casu

VLT Spectra Indicate Shortest-Known-Period Planet Orbiting OGLE-TR-3

More than 100 exoplanets in orbit around stars other than the Sun have been found so far. But while their orbital periods and distances from their central stars are well known, their true masses cannot be determined with certainty, only lower limits.

This fundamental limitation is inherent in the common observational method to discover exoplanets – the measurements of small and regular changes in the centra

In less than a month, researchers at USC’s Information Sciences Institute and collaborators nationwide have built one of the world’s best systems to translate Hindi text into English and query Hindi databases using English questions.

This effort was part of the “Surprise Language” project, a test of the computer science community’s ability to create translation tools quickly for previously unresearched languages sponsored by the Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA). The ex

STEELBIZ is an on-line information system designed to improve the performance of the European steel construction industry. It provides engineers with technical information, design guides, building regulations, case studies and, for broadband users, voiceover Continuing Professional Development (CPD) lectures.

The STEELBIZ project is led by the UK-based Steel Construction Institute (SCI) which represents some 600 SME members in 30 countries. In the last 15 years it has produced nearly 200 pub

Ultimate goal: a public online database

A computational technique used to predict everything from books that a given customer might like to the function of an unknown protein is now being applied by MIT engineers and colleagues to the search for new materials.

The team’s ultimate goal: a public online database that could aid the design of materials for almost any application, from nanostructure computer components to ultralight, high-strength alloys for airplanes.

Scientists zero in on five chromosome regions

Scientists at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, working with colleagues in the U-M School of Public Health, have significantly narrowed the range of chromosomal locations where they expect to find genes associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

In a paper published in the March issue of American Journal of Human Genetics, Kellogg scientist Anand Swaroop, Ph.D., and his team of researchers have confirmed

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers have designed a blood test to detect ovarian cancer using three proteins found in common in the blood of women with the disease. Their preliminary studies with the new test suggest a molecular signature exclusive to this deadly cancer, known for its ability to remain undetected and spread quickly.

The Hopkins test, described in the August 15 issue of Cancer Research, identifies the proteins as a truncated form of transthyretin, a fragm

Surfing the Web could become a much more effective experience thanks to new approaches endorsed at this year’s ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) Hypertext Conference.

In its current state, the commonly used link in a Web page allows people to search the Web and to use hyperlinks to jump from one page to another. The down side is that when people click links, pages load on top of one another and unless they can recall the route taken, it is easy to lose much of the conten

Researchers have unprecedented chance to search for Alzheimer’s susceptibility genes and develop advanced clinical testing

Phoenix-Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Kronos Science Laboratories, an affiliate of Phoenix-based Kronos Optimal Health Company, have initiated a study with unprecedented power to identify genes that are involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of disabling memory and thinking problems

An international team of astronomers using the world’s largest X-ray and optical telescopes have spotted the most distant massive object ever detected, a cluster of galaxies 9 billion light years distant from Earth.

The cluster of galaxies is so far away that the light detected by the team is much older than the Earth itself. The galaxy cluster, if it is even still there, would be at least 11 billion years old now. “By capturing this ancient, 9-billion-year-old light, we

Very Large Telescope Finds Planet-Sized Transiting Star

An international team of astronomers have accurately determined the radius and mass of the smallest core-burning star known until now.

The observations were performed in March 2004 with the FLAMES multi-fibre spectrograph on the 8.2-m VLT Kueyen telescope at the ESO Paranal Observatory (Chile). They are part of a large programme aimed at measuring accurate radial velocities for sixty stars for which a temporary br

Companies wanting to use the Internet to recruit new employees should spotlight the geographic location of positions on their Web sites and include terms used by searchers, rather than site designers or human resource professionals, say Penn State researchers.

“Users’ primary interest when looking for jobs is location, but company Web sites typically don’t highlight geographical information,” said Jim Jansen, assistant professor of information sciences and technology. “Lo

Who has made Mama Raja ill? Was it witchcraft, evil spirits, malaria or God’s punishment? Dutch researcher Ien Courtens discovered that in the interior of the Bird’s Head of West Papua, the presumed cause of the illness determines the choice of treatment.

By studying the illness progression of Mama Raja, Courtens discovered how inhabitants of the village of Ayawasi in the interior of the Bird’s Head of West Papua heal illnesses. In her doctoral thesis she unravels

Having vaccines developed by computer may sound unnerving but the increasing role of computer modelling in the development of new vaccines could bring new products onto the market quicker, benefiting patients and saving pharmaceutical companies millions of pounds.

Researchers using informatics and computer modelling can help scientists to uncover and harness the hidden patterns in the wealth of DNA and protein sequences that modern bioscience generates and cut the number of compoun